My labour experience

[night owl]

Birth story

Just thought I would do a post detailing the labour of my gorgeous little girl for anyone who is interested, I always liked reading peoples birth stories and think it helped me know a bit more about what to expect.

So prep wise for labour - I went to an antenatal class on the stages of labour and pain relief options and another class on relaxation and breathing exercises, the classes were encouraging us to get by as much as we can with gas and air and relaxation and breathing exercises and followed a lot of the hypnobirthing themes, in fact the midwife who ran them was also a hypnobirthing practioner

The messages I took away from these classes and from doing a little reading on hypnobirthing were that pain relief and medical interventions will stall your labour and make the whole experience longer and more complicated, so my birth plan was go to the midwife led unit, breath through the contractions using gas and air and get one baby cracked out as quickly as possible

So anyway, I had a sweep done with midwife at 39+3, nothing really happened, at 39+5 in the middle of the night I sneezed and lost my mucus plug! Got quite excited at this point as I started having some pains in the middle of the night too - however these had tailed off to nothing by the morning

Due date of 13th April came and went...

Had another sweep done with midwife on 40+3 which was a tues, midwife commented that baby was back to back, went home and had my tea, an hour later at around 7pm I violently spewed it all back up , felt generally very unwell and started to feel a constant cramp in my back, my partner went to bed around 10pm encouraging me to come and lie down for a bit and try to relax but I was just vomiting non stop at this point and my back was hurting so much it was uncomfortable to sit or lie down the only thing I could do was pace around the living room downstairs,

It came to around 2 in the morning of weds morn and I couldn’t hold any liquids down not even a glass of water and I felt like my spine was being continually crushed in a vice or something, I had tears in my eyes and was moaning out loud, couldn’t sit or lie down as it was too painful, so I went and got a hot bath and had 2 paracetamol and decided to ring the hospital triage to see what I should do

Rang hospital spoke to a midwife -

Explained I was having awful pains in my back and vomiting non stop - got told I wasn’t in labour as I had no pains in the front of my tummy and my tummy wasn’t tightening up as it would with contractions

Got off the phone and nearly burst into tears - is this wasn’t labour then what the hell was it!

Decided to pace around the living room for another couple of hours, then realised I hadn’t felt my baby move all night, it’s 8am weds morn at this point, panicked and phoned the hospital again, got told to come in to Liverpool women’s hospital at 11am to have baby monitored

So we set off for the hospital a few hours later with my labour bag and baby’s bag and car seat, cried the whole of the car journey there as sitting down was so painful, got to the ward to have the monitoring done, seen the same midwife who told me a few hours earlier I wasn’t in labour, baby’s heart rate was picked up quickly and she was fine, they done my blood pressure, which is normally perfect, and seen it was through the roof, MW asked me for a urine sample but a was so dehydrated I couldn’t do one so they took blood instead, MW finally agreed to examine me to see if i was in labour - turns out I was 4cm dilated, fully effaced and my water burst as soon as MW went in for examination, I was in labour yay!

Doctor was called and was concerned about my blood pressure and vomiting - I was given an anti sickness drug and told I couldn’t give birth at midwife lead unit had to go to labour ward for constant monitoring as he was concerned about pre-eclampsia, at this point I wasn’t even remotely bothered I just wanted to get to the delivery room, the pain in my back was so bad I was nearly screaming out loud sigh it, interestingly still hadn’t had a single pain or tightening across the front of my belly

5pm weds - another examination shows I was 5cm

8pm weds - still only 5cm and cervix started to swell - induction drip is started - by this point I was fed up of the gas and air which wasn’t doing anything anymore and had thrown up all my water all over myself and the bed 3 times, more anti sickness drugs are given, and I decided to ask for the epidural, I had already said all along I wouldn’t have morphine just because I had a feeling it would make me vomit, and didn’t like the fact that it affects baby

10pm - epidural is finally given and induction drip started, after having not slept and not able to sit or lie down for nearly 2 days I get in the bed and fall asleep for a few hours

2am thurs morn - MW examines me I am 10cm dilated hurray!! Went from 5 to 10cm hardly feeling a thing thanks to the magic of the epidural, MW says to rest for a bit longer before pushing

4.30am pushing starts, need episiotomy then she arrived at 5.48am weighing a lovely 8lb 9oz

So that’s it really - even though it’s a long process especially us first timers it is true what they say - you just forget the pain afterwards and it is a truely life affirming experience , not in a hurry to do it again though lol! Also - just get the epidural

 

[MoominGirl]

Great to read your birth story and glad you're both doing well now. Funny they said you weren't in labour as you felt nothing across your tummy - I was exactly the same as you. Everything was in my back and I was very much in labour!!

I also know what you mean about afterwards. I still remember everything and the whole experience was pretty damn miserable but I'd do it again as the end result was so worth it!

Thank you for sharing.

 

[chattychar1990]

Oh wow night owl you went through it didn’t you, but you got your beautiful daughter at the end of it.
I’ve never wanted a baby so much in my life but labour definitely does scares the life out of me.
Massive congrats to you xx

 

[baby.3]

Congratulations night owl.

Your experience sounds a lot like my first. Had no pains at all in my tummy, they where all in my back and down my legs. My baby was also back to back.

 

[pupperino]

Thanks for sharing night owl

I have definitely learned a lot from reading birth stories and trying not to freak myself out too much lol.

Glad she arrived safe and well after all that x

 

[Unicorn]

Congratulations night owl, I hope your recovery is going well, at least you have your gorgeous little girl in your arms now to make it all worth it xx

 

[Kitana]

Lovely birth story! I also had some breathing and relaxation classes before giving birth. I loved it! The OH was there as well and during labour, he was actually a big help when I would lose it. He would tell me to focus and breathe with him.
I didn't have an epidural though and won't for my second one either.

I will share mine as I loved reading about them before I gave birth.

It was the hottest day of the year, we had a confirmation from a family member that Sunday and I had the worst swelling in my feet and legs due to the heat. In the evening we had dinner at my SIL's and when we got home, the OH wanted to watch the beginning of a movie.
I was sooo tired but complied anyway. At around 1 am, when we decided to go to bed, I felt a tiny pop when I moved and started leaking!
I didn't know what to think and went to the restroom to change my undies. It seemed to have stopped and just thought it was discharge. But when I got out of the bathroom, the leaking started again! Now I saw that it was very light pink water. I called the hospital and they told me to come in for monitoring. I took a shower, put on a maxi pad, took a towel just in case and left with the OH.

During the car ride, the water kept coming and coming, it didn't stop. I put the towel on my seat, the OH still had another one from the gym and hoped it would soak u most of it. But I completely soaked through both towels and maxi pad! I kept on apologizing to the OH for ruining his car haha!

We got to hospital and was put on the monitor. No real contractions yet but was put in a room at 3am. The OH started snoring right away but my contractions started to pick up. They were 5 to 3 minutes apart, painful but manageable. We don't have air and gas in Belgium by the way!

At 5 am the midwife told me the doctor had decided to induce me at 7 am. I refused since my contractions were regular and I didn't understand why they wanted to induce me 2 hours after my arrival. She told me he wouldn't be happy but I couldn't care less!! She told me he would be here at 7 am anyways. The gynecologist arrived at 9 am instead of 7, greeted me and checked my cervix. He was displeased but I didn't care. He told me I would have a fast labour and left.

The midwife told me they now predict 1cm per hour and I was at 4cm! I still had 6 hours of agony to go! I was led to the delivery room and started bouncing on a ball.
There were moments where I would totally lose it and was lucky the OH was there to help me. A bit after 11am, the pain was unbearable. I had this feeling like I had to go to the loo, like I had to push! I couldn't stand up anymore due to the pain and when the midwife came on her hourly check up, I told her that the pain was getting too much!

She checked my cervix and I was about to give birth! She frantically started calling the gynaecologist but he didn't answer his phone, I didn't understand why she didn't want to do the delivery herself! She kept telling me to stop pushing but that's impossible! (Later found out that the gynaecologist was a real @$$hole and wanted to do my delivery since he could ask for 7k euros as an honorary payment since I had a luxury room). In any case, the assistant of the gynaecologist entered the room a bit later, barely put her gloves on as I was already pushing my DD out. I was apparently screaming like a bear and completely shocked the OH!
I forgot everything as soon as she was put on my belly. As she was 4 weeks too early they checked her out but was big enough so she didn't have to go to neo.

Wow that was long. I don't remember the pain now but I do remember that it was really bad near the end. When the head started to come out, I felt like I was on fire down there.

 

[TTChloexx]

Such interesting birth stories! I had my booking appointment last week and decided to opt for a midwife led unit that is ten minutes from my house. It’s also a really lovely place and meant to be one of the best!
BUT as a midwife led unit it doesn’t give epidurals, and therefore I think my plan might have to change lol! I really am crap with pain, and have always said that when I give birth I’ll need one.
On one hand my brain is just telling me to suck it up and go with the midwife led unit, it’s close to the house, easy to get to and the rooms look fab. But on the other hand I’m thinking will any of that actually matter when I’m actually doing it lol
Thank you for sharing ladies xxx

 

[BabyMaker]

Congrats Night Owl! And thanks for sharing. I love reading birth stories

Kitana, what an absolute d*ck that doc was!!! Shows where his priorities lie in life

 

[Radleycat]

Congratulations on the birth of your little one xxxx
I’m surprised that they didn’t think you were in labour initially, we’ve been told that when baby presents back to back the pain is excruciating and almost feels like you are having your back broken. I wonder if the vomiting was because of the pain?
You did so well and now have your lovely little baby to show it

I’ve read and know about how medical interventions can slow the whole birth process and I’m not really sure where I stand on that tbh. But when it comes to it, and I’m in pain, I’m going to want pain relief and (for me) no amount of positive thinking is going to stop the ring of fire! I can’t even bloody do my own fragment injections at the moment, we keep trying various spots as dh doesn’t like doing them in the belly but it’s the least painful.

I think we have to be able to go with the flow. Birth plans are great, but know all the options and have whatever you need!

 

[baby.3]

My birth plan consists of...

... Get baby out safely and by any means necessary lol.

I went into my first labour young and niave thinking I'd managed on gas and air. He was back to back and all I can say is thank god for the epidural!

Second Labour I had a much more 'let's see what happens' approach. I'll follow that same principle this time too.

 

[IVW]

Thanks for sharing nightowl

It still amazes me at how different birth stories can be. How frustrating that the midwifes were saying that you weren't in labour - what else was it going to be

How any woman goes through child birth without any drugs is beyond me I am soooo glad I have an epidural x

 

[Sjf0709]

Birth story

Just thought I would do a post detailing the labour of my gorgeous little girl for anyone who is interested, I always liked reading peoples birth stories and think it helped me know a bit more about what to expect.

So prep wise for labour - I went to an antenatal class on the stages of labour and pain relief options and another class on relaxation and breathing exercises, the classes were encouraging us to get by as much as we can with gas and air and relaxation and breathing exercises and followed a lot of the hypnobirthing themes, in fact the midwife who ran them was also a hypnobirthing practioner

The messages I took away from these classes and from doing a little reading on hypnobirthing were that pain relief and medical interventions will stall your labour and make the whole experience longer and more complicated, so my birth plan was go to the midwife led unit, breath through the contractions using gas and air and get one baby cracked out as quickly as possible

So anyway, I had a sweep done with midwife at 39+3, nothing really happened, at 39+5 in the middle of the night I sneezed and lost my mucus plug! Got quite excited at this point as I started having some pains in the middle of the night too - however these had tailed off to nothing by the morning

Due date of 13th April came and went...

Had another sweep done with midwife on 40+3 which was a tues, midwife commented that baby was back to back, went home and had my tea, an hour later at around 7pm I violently spewed it all back up , felt generally very unwell and started to feel a constant cramp in my back, my partner went to bed around 10pm encouraging me to come and lie down for a bit and try to relax but I was just vomiting non stop at this point and my back was hurting so much it was uncomfortable to sit or lie down the only thing I could do was pace around the living room downstairs,

It came to around 2 in the morning of weds morn and I couldn’t hold any liquids down not even a glass of water and I felt like my spine was being continually crushed in a vice or something, I had tears in my eyes and was moaning out loud, couldn’t sit or lie down as it was too painful, so I went and got a hot bath and had 2 paracetamol and decided to ring the hospital triage to see what I should do

Rang hospital spoke to a midwife -

Explained I was having awful pains in my back and vomiting non stop - got told I wasn’t in labour as I had no pains in the front of my tummy and my tummy wasn’t tightening up as it would with contractions

Got off the phone and nearly burst into tears - is this wasn’t labour then what the hell was it!

Decided to pace around the living room for another couple of hours, then realised I hadn’t felt my baby move all night, it’s 8am weds morn at this point, panicked and phoned the hospital again, got told to come in to Liverpool women’s hospital at 11am to have baby monitored

So we set off for the hospital a few hours later with my labour bag and baby’s bag and car seat, cried the whole of the car journey there as sitting down was so painful, got to the ward to have the monitoring done, seen the same midwife who told me a few hours earlier I wasn’t in labour, baby’s heart rate was picked up quickly and she was fine, they done my blood pressure, which is normally perfect, and seen it was through the roof, MW asked me for a urine sample but a was so dehydrated I couldn’t do one so they took blood instead, MW finally agreed to examine me to see if i was in labour - turns out I was 4cm dilated, fully effaced and my water burst as soon as MW went in for examination, I was in labour yay!

Doctor was called and was concerned about my blood pressure and vomiting - I was given an anti sickness drug and told I couldn’t give birth at midwife lead unit had to go to labour ward for constant monitoring as he was concerned about pre-eclampsia, at this point I wasn’t even remotely bothered I just wanted to get to the delivery room, the pain in my back was so bad I was nearly screaming out loud sigh it, interestingly still hadn’t had a single pain or tightening across the front of my belly

5pm weds - another examination shows I was 5cm

8pm weds - still only 5cm and cervix started to swell - induction drip is started - by this point I was fed up of the gas and air which wasn’t doing anything anymore and had thrown up all my water all over myself and the bed 3 times, more anti sickness drugs are given, and I decided to ask for the epidural, I had already said all along I wouldn’t have morphine just because I had a feeling it would make me vomit, and didn’t like the fact that it affects baby

10pm - epidural is finally given and induction drip started, after having not slept and not able to sit or lie down for nearly 2 days I get in the bed and fall asleep for a few hours

2am thurs morn - MW examines me I am 10cm dilated hurray!! Went from 5 to 10cm hardly feeling a thing thanks to the magic of the epidural, MW says to rest for a bit longer before pushing

4.30am pushing starts, need episiotomy then she arrived at 5.48am weighing a lovely 8lb 9oz

So that’s it really - even though it’s a long process especially us first timers it is true what they say - you just forget the pain afterwards and it is a truely life affirming experience , not in a hurry to do it again though lol! Also - just get the epidural

Wow how did I miss this @night owl sorry! Thanks for sharing! So glad you’re both well xx